The Black Dirt Process
Intially Black Dirt was opened as a Pro Tools HD2 studio using a Tascam US-2400 motorized controller surface and summing to a Roll Music Folcrom box. We no longer have a DAW here and without offending or fanning the fires we'll just leave it at that. For some people, working on a computer is the way to go, it wasn't here. The Radar is digital, but it is fixed at 24 tracks. We find the limitation (if you can call 24 tracks a limitation) a good thing. All 24 tracks are tied to the Toft desk, which has no automation and no recall. At Black Dirt, a mix is a mix. When it is done and torn down it is done. We can always go back and remix, but we can't go back and tweak it to hell. Everything is recorded at 96/24 and all tracks are exportable as bwav files which are compatible with almost every DAW. So if you'd like to track here and mix on a computer somewhere else, that is possible. If you'd like to bring your bwav or wav multitracks up here to mix, that is also possible.
Some things we like to do here (aka - the process) - - -
> get together for some sort of preproduction if it works schedule-wise... usually this only happens on a long project and can be anything from hanging out one night to talk, to spending a couple of days listening to music, testing sounds or cutting some demos
> track with effects
> get the music going in to the front end to sound as much like we want the final song to sound like - the goal is always for completed tracking to sound 80 - 85% like a mix...
> track with as many people playing live together as the artist feels comfortable, or will fit in the room
> do punches rather than comps
> recut rather than fix
> do mutiple mixes rather than tweak one mix
These are not revolutionary ideas. But they are no longer assumed as a standard approach, nor are they ideas that everyone subscribes to. They are also not set in stone - when it comes down to it, do whatever works! But these ideas will give you a peek into what the approach is here. Feel free to drop us a line to talk about the process and how much you dig it, how uncomfortable it makes you feel, how full of shit you think we are, etc...
© Black Dirt Studio